The protest thing is obviously the big reason. I think suspending Brady when there was no real evidence against him. At least that I saw, and the terrible officiating. A DB tackles a WR after a catch and gets a big penalty, is a joke. The NFL is falling apart under Goodell.
There certainly was real evidence against Tom Brady, and there's no way Roger Goodell would have gone after the league's biggest cash cow otherwise. People act like there's supposed to be some kind of criminal standard of proof, when in reality the commissioner is perfectly entitled to render judgement, even if it's arbitrary (which is wasn't.
Regardless, Brady's suspension has absolutely nothing to do with this year's decline in viewership. There should be no doubt in any objective person's mind that it's because of the disrespect for the national anthem. It's obvious.
And the viewership will bounce back at least somewhat once there are no more employees who are letting their political views damage the economic prosperity of the league.
In every sensible company I've ever seen, including sports, which at its core is entertainment, any employee who costs their employer both customers and business revenue would be severely sanctioned, if not outright fired.
Middle class Americans, who work their asses off just to make ends meet, and who want to get away from the problems of the world on the weekend and relieve some stress, certainly don't want to have ignorant race-baiters shoving their agendas down the throats of the fans, who obviously can't do anything to directly address the issue that's being protested in the first place.
It's utterly asinine for both the league and the players, and shows a lack of character by both owners and coaches who can't maintain proper team discipline.
And my home team, the Miami Dolphins, has emerged as the worst offender regarding disrespect to the anthem. Thankfully, johnny-come-lately ringleader Arian Foster won't be playing this week, and as far as I'm concerned, I can't wait until he's gone for good, because the Dolphins will never amount to anything as long as his malignant influence remains on the team.
The NFL will be in a state of steady decline until they get out of denial and face reality regarding the large share of their fan base that is furious at the un-American activities of some of the NFL's employees.
You want to do political protests? Do it on your own time. Don't do it while you're working and in such a way that you cost your company both clients and money.
Vote Trump!